LAS VEGAS — Floyd Mayweather all but guaranteed Saturday night he’ll retire from boxing after the final four fights of his six-fight deal with Showtime are complete, and he’s targeted September 2015 for the farewell bout.

“I’ve only got 24 months left,” the 36-year-old Mayweather said after his systematic dismantling of Saul Canelo Alvarez at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Amazingly, there are still those who are bored by Mayweather’s brilliance, which was on full display against a game but frustrated Alvarez. His experience and superb boxing skills provided a riddle the 23-year-old Mexican never solved. The cinnamon-haired puncher hardly landed a solid shot on the elusive Mayweather, who piled up points with jabs, quick combinations and snapping right hands.

“I just took my time, and when the opportunities presented themselves, I took advantage of them,” Mayweather said.

Judge C.J. Ross somehow scored the fight a draw, 114-114. The other 16,000 people in the building knew it wasn’t even close. Judge Dave Moretti had it 116-112 while judge Craig Metcalfe called it 117-111. The Post saw Mayweather a 118-110 winner.

“He’s very fast,” Alvarez said. “I didn’t really feel his punches. They weren’t really that strong. But he was scoring points.”

The one-sided nature of the bout may have been disappointing to those who prefer the toe-to-toe slugfests that draw blood. But Mayweather’s talent should be appreciated during the little time he has left in the sport. Alvarez appeared to be a worthy challenger, who brought a 42-0-1 record with 30 knockouts into the ring. Mayweather, 44-0 with 26 knockouts coming in, was just a 2½-to-1 favorite. It would be youth and strength versus skills and experience. In the end, Mayweather’s ring generalship frustrated Alvarez the same way it did Robert Guerrero, Miguel Cotto, Shane Mosley, Juan Manuel Marquez and Oscar De La Hoya.

“I had a game plan, but he took me out of it and I didn’t have an answer for it,” Alvarez said.

It will never be a toe-to-toe slugfest when Mayweather is in the ring. “When you get to this level you have two thinkers,” Mayweather said. “Canelo’s a thinker. I’m a thinker. That was chess.”

Mayweather spent much of his post-fight press conference praising Alvarez.

“He’s an up and coming champion against a legendary champion,” Mayweather said. “He has everything he needs to be a legend in the sport. This was just my night.”

Mayweather won the fight despite temporarily abandoning his jab after feeling as if he dislocated his elbow in the fifth or six round. He also said he wished he’d thrown more combinations toward the end of the fight.

“I can’t say this was my best performance,” he said. “I’ve still got four fights left with Showtime and CBS.”

Matching the hype of Mayweather-Canelo — which was expected to be the richest bout in boxing history — will be difficult. A capacity crowd of 12,000 for the weigh-in on Friday was followed by a sellout crowd of 16,746 for the bout. An estimated $200 million in revenue could be generated.

Future opponents could include Danny Garcia of Philadelphia, who scored a unanimous decision over Lucas Matthysse on the undercard, to retain the unified super lightweight title. Mayweather said a potential bout with Manny Pacquiao was “not my focus.”

Mayweather figures to dominate whoever the opponent is.

“It’s a once in lifetime, once in a generation and maybe once in history that you see a talent like this,” Richard Schaefer of Golden Boy Promotions said of Mayweather. “Canelo is a young, strong guy and Floyd just dominated him.”

No one seemed to tire of Tiger Woods winning all those majors or Usain Bolt winning all those races.

What's Your Take?

A boxing great should be an all-encompassing athlete who can slug, box, fight frontally, fight head-on and once in a while do the waltz. Floyd has perfected the art of being slick, sly and quick; dancing and prancing and dis-appearing in front of his opponent like a mongoose to a frazzled cobra. But wait a minute, this tactic has been his hallmark style and this gets tiring after awhile. Is he a brave heart after all? Is this hit and run style speak tons about his concern of "preserving his health?" Is this the reason why the man now said to be an all-time great could not put down his opponent in his last four bouts? Physics will explain that if you give a shot while on the verge of running, you don't get enough traction on your foot and thus your punches are not killers? Does the word "domination" in boxing really means knowing how to evade the punches 90 per cent of the time? He is one of my heroes but his dancing skills in boxing remains to me a 40 million dollar question. I hope that in his last 24 months in boxing, he is willing to give an all out war, no holds barred, skin-tearing, bone crushing performance.

@Noli C. Cabantug - With you here 110% You see what Larry Merchant and all real "fight" fans see. He will NEVER be an all time great! He can retire with a 100-0 record and he will always be a runner and not a "fighter". All the greats did exactly what you describe here. Enough said!!

four more fights and four more scrubs. Decide whether there's any value in the money paid to see shenanigans......Any marketable fight.....and that is all floyd is willing to take.....will not be worth the paper its signed on. Marketable are Khan......the man who does not know how to not get KO'd. Garcia. As good as he his I don't think he's on Floyds level. Broner. Too green. Matthysse. Not after having his ass handed to him so easily. Unfortunately, Bradley a 147lb champion like floyd....will be avoided and has been by Floyd. There are fights at 154 but as usual.....Floyd wants advantages......you know, the same advantage he thinks Pac may have over him when he accuses Pac of using Peds. It's ok for Floyd....but.....not anyone else. I think his whole career has been a farce. Unless he's fighting someone at 154.....facing anyone else will not be worth the money, just as it was this past Saturday.